In oil/gas production it is necessary to get rid of hydrocarbons during the testing/test-production of wells.
Several nozzles of various designs are known for use with the aim of creating a water shield which protects the platform, equipment and people from the intense heat which arises when excess of hydrocarbons, oil or gas, is burnt by using so called flaring, i.e. the burning of said hydrocarbons from a flaring boom.
Both patent application GB 2433710 A and GB 2465427 A shows nozzles for the generation of a water shield for heat protection during flaring. The nozzles are closely related and use a deflector plate at the end of the nozzle in order to achieve the desired water shield.
The nozzles presently in use consist of a number of moveable parts which requires a high level of maintenance. Further, said nozzles do not have the possibility for an asymmetric design of the water shield or several water shields at the same time, they are not suited for highly pressurized water (only max 20 bar), and may easily be clogged.
The aim of the present invention is to provide a nozzle for generating a water shield, while at the same time avoiding or alleviating at least one, preferably several, of the disadvantages of the presently used nozzles.